


The Winter Protocol

by house_of_lantis



Category: Captain America (Movies), Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-06-05
Packaged: 2018-03-29 03:03:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3879757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/house_of_lantis/pseuds/house_of_lantis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Asset executes a long buried protocol and makes his escape from HYDRA. Months after the Battle over the Potomac, the Asset deals with his newfound freedom, learns to come to terms with his former identity, and tactically eludes but observes the man who called the Asset his friend, all while taking down secret HYDRA organizations all over the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Winter Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Quotes used in Chapter 1 are from the movie “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
> 
> Disclaimer: Plot loosely belongs to Ed Brubaker's graphic novel "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" chapter 11 where the Winter Soldier disappeared off mission for two weeks. 
> 
> Author’s Note: Believe it or not, this actually started as a tongue-in-cheek homage to “Bridget Jones’s Diary” where the Asset/Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes started putting his post-CA:WS life together. But somewhere along the line, it took a serious tone, and I ended up rewriting the whole thing.
> 
> Warnings: Violence, language, sex

_“I can bring order to the lives of 7 billion people by sacrificing 20 million.”_

  * Alexander Pierce



 

Authorization: Pierce, Alexander Goodwin, 623732298, _Alpha-Echo-Echo_

Asset: Active

Asset: Urban combat mode engaged

Weapons: FN MK 13 grenade launcher

Targets Identified: 1

Target Name: Fury, Nicholas Joseph, Colonel, Director SHIELD, codename Foxtrot

Threat Level: 8

Tactical Support: Strike Alpha and Bravo, alias DC Metro

Tactical Strategy: Terminate with extreme prejudice

Collateral Damage: Estimated 11

Targets Eliminated: 0

Mission: Incomplete

 

 _“Перемещение его ко мне.”_  [Move him towards me].

 

The Asset saw the black SUV bearing down on him on the middle of 17th Street. He launched the grenade, watching the smoke trail from the grenade moving steadily towards the vehicle’s undercarriage, snapping in place. The Asset could feel the force and heat of the explosion, and he took a step back as the vehicle flipped past him, landing upside down by the curb. The target was still inside the vehicle; the Asset walked towards it. He could hear the sirens of Strike Bravo behind him. Grabbing the crushed door with his left hand, the Asset flung it away, only to see a large hole lasered through the pavement beneath the vehicle.

 

 _Clever_ , he thought, narrowing his eyes underneath his protective eye goggles. He took a slow, heated breath through his face mask. He would not underestimate the target again.

 

The handler would not be pleased with the incomplete mission.  

 

 _“Возвращение на базу.”_  [Return to base].

 

***

 

_“The truth is a matter of circumstance; it’s not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I.”_

  * The Black Widow



 

Authorization: Pierce, Alexander Goodwin, 623732298, _Alpha-Echo-Echo_

Asset: Active

Asset: Assassination mode engaged

Weapons: Dragunova SVD-63 rifle  

Targets Identified: 1

Target Name: Fury, Nicholas Joseph, Colonel, Director SHIELD, codename Foxtrot

Threat Level: 8

Tactical Strategy: Terminate with extreme prejudice

Collateral Damage: 0

Targets Eliminated: 1

Mission: Complete

 

The Asset reviewed the file on the target and concluded that the target would go to ground. He was injured from the previous mission. HYDRA would already be on the alert for local hospitals and clinics, the Asset didn’t need to waste time searching for the target at any of those locations.

 

The target needed to reach one person for a safe haven. The target would not return to his home in order to protect his family. The Asset could draw the target out by holding his family hostage, but the handler had given him a timeframe of 5 hours to complete the mission.

 

There were only a handful of allies that the target would go to ground to; the Asset determined that the target would seek assistance from Rogers, Steven Grant. The Asset located and marked the location. He watched from his vantage point as Rogers climbed up the side of the brownstone building, slipping in through the window.

 

 _Cautious; and well trained_ , he thought, watching as Rogers move slowly through the interior of his apartment. _A soldier._

 

The Asset was correct; the target was in pocket. He adjusted the scope on his rifle and waited patiently for the target to move into the crosshairs.

 

Three shots. The target was down. Mission complete. The Asset policed his brass, stowed his rifle for Strike to recover later, and ran across the rooftops. He heard Rogers crashing through glass, following him. He turned and grabbed the edge of the shield with his left hand, felt the vibration move through the metal, to his shoulder. He turned and met Rogers’s eyes and flung the shield at him.

 

 _Rogers was formidable._ The Asset didn’t permit emotions to supersede his judgment in the field during a mission, but his training allowed him to evaluate the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses. If he were capable, he would report that he was impressed.

 

After his failure to eliminate the target in the morning, he would submit his mission report to the handler directly.

 

***

 

_“The timetable has moved. Our window is limited. Two targets, level 6. They already cost me Zola. I want confirmed deaths in 10 hours.”_

  * Alexander Pierce



 

Authorization: Pierce, Alexander Goodwin, 623732298, _Alpha-Echo-Echo_

Asset: Active

Asset: Urban combat mode engaged

Weapons: COP 357 Magnum pistol, Intratec TEC-38 pistol, SIG Sauer P220ST pistol, CZ Vz 61E Skorpion submachine gun, Gerber Mark II blade, 2 Gerber Yari Tanto twin blades, Colt M203 A1 grenade launcher, 3 standard M203 grenades, 3 K6 advanced street tactical grenades

Targets Identified: 2

Target Name: Romanoff, Natalia Alianova, alias Black Widow

Target Name: Rogers, Steven Grant, alias Captain America

Threat Level: 6

Tactical Support: Strike Delta

Tactical Strategy: Terminate with extreme prejudice

Collateral Damage: 73

Targets Eliminated: 0

Mission: Incomplete

 

The Asset did not want to report another mission failure. The Asset was not afraid of pain or punishment. The Asset did not feel fear. The Asset only knew success or failure; complete or incomplete. The Asset did not fail.

 

But his mind was filled with…memories. Of winter and a train and snow. He fell. There was a face, a man with blond hair, who screamed for him.

 

And there was Zola; who called him _Sergeant Barnes_.

 

“I knew him.”

 

The man had stared at the Asset and dropped his defenses; he called the Asset by a name.

 

_Bucky._

 

“But I knew him.”

 

The handler was not pleased by the Asset’s mission failure. “Then wipe him and start over.”

 

The Asset allowed the punishment; the Asset wanted the wipe. The Asset did not have a name. The Asset only had a mission.

 

***

 

_“Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped this century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push. But if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves.”_

  * Alexander Pierce



 

Authorization: Pierce, Alexander Goodwin, 623732298, _Alpha-Echo-Echo_

Asset: Active

Asset: Urban combat mode engaged

Weapons: AR15 M4A1 rifle, Glock 19 pistol, SIG Sauer P226R pistol, Gerber Mark II blade  

Targets Identified: 1

Target Name: Rogers, Steven Grant, alias Captain America

Threat Level: 6

Tactical Strategy: Terminate with extreme prejudice

Collateral Damage: Estimated 289, inconclusive, search and recovery in progress

Targets Eliminated: 0

Mission: Incomplete

 

_“You’ve known me your entire life. Your name is James Buchanan Barnes—“_

_“You’re my mission! You are my mission!”_

 

Asset: Implement secondary protocol

Asset: Evade capture, locate safe house

Asset: Safe house secured

Asset: Weapons check complete

Asset: Who is Bucky

Asset: Beacon alerted

Asset: Await handler

Asset: Await recovery

_“Then finish it. Because I’m with you ‘til the end of the line.”_

 

Asset: Who is James Buchanan Barnes

Asset: Mission abandoned, with cause

Asset: Implement new operational parameters

Asset: Winter Protocol  

Asset: Beacon terminated

Asset: Abandon safe house

Asset: Evade recovery

Mission: Unknown  

Asset: Inactive

 

*****

 

_“Most of the intelligence community doesn’t believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. He’s credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years. He’s a ghost. You’ll never find him.”_

  * The Black Widow



 

No one knew of Winter Protocol; it was an operational protocol that the Asset had developed for himself. He had executed the protocol only one time before, after the mission to terminate Senator Harry Baxtor. He had moved freely from Dallas to Chicago to New York City. The city had called to him; some leftover instinct to go there. He was off the grid for two weeks before HYDRA took him into custody again. He could give no explanation to the scientists and didn’t have any memories of his time away.

 

Despite the multiple wipes, the Asset was able to disguise the Winter Protocol into his mission parameters, tactically concealed with his knowledge of languages, weapons, combat, and warfare.  

 

He had been conscious around his handlers and the scientists enough times to understand how to embed a loophole in his own mission parameters. The Asset was given latitude to make independent decisions while on mission, to implement contingency plans in the field, and to strategize on the fly.

 

Tactical operational strategy in Winter Protocol demanded that the Asset blend into the civilian population. After pulling the target from the Potomac, the Asset paused for 8.6 seconds to determine if he needed to provide emergency assistance, but the target coughed and started breathing on his own. He assessed that the four bullet wounds he had inflicted on the target, along with the bruising on his face and several cracked and broken ribs, the target would survive. The Asset determined that leaving him on the embankment in clear view of the public would facilitate the target’s rescue.

 

The Asset avoided the main streets of the city, ducking behind alleys as he made his way to the Southeast side of the city. With the destruction of the three helicarriers and the Triskelion Building, no one looked too closely at the Asset. It allowed him to walk into a public 24-hour Laundromat where he could steal civilian clothes, cycling in the dryers.

 

***

 

The Asset walked into Anacostia Public Library on Good Hope Road and immediately set off the metal detector alarm. The library staff looked at him and the Asset moved towards one of the women behind the desk. He pulled off the glove to his left hand and showed her his metal hand.

 

The woman’s eyes widened in understanding. “Are you a veteran?”

 

The Asset nodded, keeping his eyes lowered. Somewhere in the Asset’s training, he was taught how to gain sympathy or compassion from his marks, allowing him ingress into situations where he would have to reveal his metal arm.

 

“My nephew lost his leg. He’s on the waitlist for a new prosthetic. Looks like you got a proper one,” she said, looking him over and waving him into the library.

 

The Asset met her steady gaze. “Thank you.”

 

People saw his arm as a weakness, as an injury; it was too late for them when they realized that it was his weapon.  

 

The Asset pulled his glove back on, looking around the main floor, marking the exit doors, making a thorough threat assessment before walking to the bank of computers by the far wall. He selected a computer that allowed him to sit at the end with his back towards the wall.

 

With quick efficiency, the Asset looked up information on James Buchanan Barnes. He scanned through dozens of websites; stared at a face that looked like his own. He frowned. The information was consistent from multiple accounts, all of them forming a common conclusion that Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were lifelong friends and allies in war.

One of the websites featured photographs from an exhibit at The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The Asset frowned again, a tactical strategy taking form in his mind. The Asset would need to visit the exhibit in order to make a complete and thorough assessment.

 

_“Who the hell is Bucky?”_


	2. Search for Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Asset continues his search for the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Images/Gifs: Google Images
> 
> If any of these images/GIFs belong to you, please let me know and I'll credit/source appropriately. Thanks.
> 
> Quotes from Captain America: Winter Soldier.

_“Bucky, you’ve known me your entire life. Your name is James Buchanan Barnes. I’m not gonna fight you. You’re my friend.”_

  * Steve Rogers



 

Authorization: Winter Protocol

Asset: Assessing

Asset: New parameters

Asset: Evade recovery

Asset: Evade capture

Asset: Elude mark tagged as Rogers, Steven Grant, alias Captain America

Targets Identified: 0

Targets Eliminated: 0

Collateral Damage: 0

Mission: Undetermined

 

**The Smithsonian**

The Asset couldn’t stay in DC for much longer. He was taking an unnecessary risk returning to the exhibit in the museum, but he needed to see the displays one last time. He needed the information in order to assess the truth.

_Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield._

The Asset felt nothing. Human emotion was unnecessary in the course of a mission. There were times when his handlers had asked the Asset to make the death of a target look insignificant; and then there were times when the Asset created a blood tide to send a message of terror or hate. Men, women, and children died by the Asset’s hands; the Asset didn’t understand mercy.

Except now…the Asset didn’t understand why he stayed his hand and pulled the target from the river. If he had let the target drown to his death, then the Asset would’ve completed his mission.

What made him stop, when nothing and no one before had been able to make him stop?

“I knew him,” the Asset murmured, sitting alone in the video room, watching the footage for the fifth time.  

The Asset watched as Barnes stood beside Rogers. They were never apart. The Asset found Barnes’s devotion to his friend…he didn’t know the words to describe it.

 

He slipped out of the video room when a group of small children ran inside, talking and laughing excitedly.

“I want a Captain American shield!”

“I lost my Bucky Bear!”

Even weeks after the collapse of HYDRA and SHIELD, along with video images of the Asset’s work in the downtown areas, the news continued to spread like fire as government agencies began arresting high ranking politicians, military officers, and anyone related to HYDRA. He watched the news coverage on Rogers being released from the hospital, standing at a podium at a press conference and politely thanking the hospital staff for their professionalism and their healing skills.

The Asset watched the hearings on television; he returned to the Anacostia Public Library to read all the newspapers and all the online news websites, blogs, and conspiracy theory sites. He searched for information on Barnes, on Rogers, on Black Widow. The Asset spent many hours in the library, reading through all the SHIELD/HYDRA documents released to the public.

His handler often said, “cut off one head and two will grow back.”

The Asset knew this wasn’t the end of HYDRA. He knew that the new leadership, the new handlers, would come looking for him. The Asset needed to move out of the city and find a safe location where he could disappear and blend in with the population. Survive. Plan.

 _Павшего товарища._ [A fallen comrade].

The Asset stared at the face of Barnes, James Buchanan, alias Bucky. It was a familiar face, but by no means a mirror. The man’s history meant nothing to him. The Asset didn’t need a name; the Asset didn’t have a past. The Asset existed in a pure state – a mission, a weapon, a tool – trained to excel at everything that he did. Taking a human life, what did it matter to him except for the mission? The Asset wasn’t sure if he felt anything, perhaps pride, for successfully completing his work. He knew that they only woke him when he was needed; that what the Asset did was beyond the abilities of average men.

_When Bucky Barnes first met Steve Rogers on the playgrounds of Brooklyn, little did he know that he was forging a bond that would take him to the battlefields of Europe and beyond._

The man on the bridge. His name was Steve Rogers. Captain America. The Asset knew him.

The Asset flinched, a sharp pain reverberating through his head. He took a deep breath, forcing the pain back, looking up at the face of Barnes.

A memory of heat and fire, of walking across a narrow metal railing, looking down into the fire pits of hell.  

_“Just go, get out of here!”_

_“No, not without you!”_

__

The Asset failed his last mission because the target had called him a friend. The Asset didn’t have friends; the Asset had a handler and the Asset led the HYDRA strike teams. He had listened to the men brag about their past missions. Even though the Asset didn’t share in such talk, he knew that he was feared, that he was the best. The men often told him about his past missions, highlighting a specific kill or the way that the Asset fought in hand-to-hand combat.

_Captured by HYDRA troops later that fall, Barnes endured long periods of isolation, depravation and torture._

Who was he?

Was he just a HYDRA Asset?

Was he this man, the friend of Rogers?

Was he Barnes?

He didn’t remember being captured. He only remembered the coldness of deep sleep.

 

The Asset remembered the pain of failure. The handler wanted him to remember, to learn from his mistakes.

_But his will was strong._

The Asset walked past the Barnes display and walked along the wall, a long line of glass enclosed picture frames holding black and white photographs of the past.

_In an ironic twist of fate, his prison camp was liberated by none other than his childhood friend, Steve Rogers, now Captain America.  
_

 

_“You’re my friend.”_

The Asset flinched, the throbbing pain in his head returned.

__

_“I’m with you ‘till the end of the line, pal.”_

The Asset took a deep breath and walked out of the exhibit hall to the main doors of the museum. He would leave the city; he would stay away from Rogers.

 

The Asset needed a new mission.

_Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country._


	3. Freedom Tunnels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Asset sets a new mission for himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quotes are from the movie Captain America: Winter Soldier.
> 
> List of Winter Soldier kills is from the Ed Brubaker graphic novel “Captain America: Winter Soldier.”
> 
> NOTE: For those of you interested in urban exploration, the Freedom Tunnels do exist in NYC, but Kenny’s massive under-city lab does not. At least, I don’t think so. LOL! 
> 
> DISCLAIMER: You may not want to wander down there on your own; it’s considered trespassing. Read about one person’s journey with gorgeous photos: http://james-watkins.net/the-freedom-tunnel-nyc/

_“Going after him [Winter Soldier] is a dead end…like you said, he’s a ghost story.”_

  * Black Widow



 

_“Well, let’s find out what the ghost wants.”_

  * Steve Rogers



 

 

Authorization: Winter Protocol

Asset: Evade recovery

Asset: Evade capture

Targets Identified: HYDRA agents

Targets Eluded: 2

Targets Eliminated: 0

Collateral Damage: 0

Mission: Defensive mode

 

The Asset knew that it was only a matter of time for him to be marked.

 

Three weeks after leaving DC, and two months since the Asset made the field decision to implement the Winter Protocol, the Asset had eluded two HYDRA sleeper agents while in Charleston. He stole a car and left South Carolina behind, heading back up north to Delaware. He needed to be in New York, to get access to the exit ports. Following HYDRA procedures for Asset recovery, he deduced that a number of HYDRA sleeper cells were alerted to his disappearance; and someone had authorized them to track him.

 

There was a new head in HYDRA. The leadership was always prepared.

 

The Asset didn’t want to be recaptured and he certainly didn’t want any law enforcement agencies to find him as well. He was limited in his choice of transportation in this timeline. His metal arm attracted too much attention, set off too many metal detectors. The country today was rife with paranoia and over-burdened with security compared to the last time the Asset was awake. Without his access to HYDRA’s limitless supply of transport, supplies, and weaponry, the Asset would have challenges in moving around the country or even going beyond the borders – challenges, yes, but the Asset was well trained in improvising on the fly. The world, no matter the decade, operated on four levels of markets – legal, illegal, black, and trafficking – but in the world of the Asset, there was a fifth level called _tunnels_ where he would be able to get the things he needed without ever sending up a red flag of any kind.  

 

The Asset knew that HYDRA was weakened and it would take time for them to regain any kind of strong foothold in the US, which meant that the new leadership originated out of Europe. The Asset needed to get out of the country and locate HYDRA’s European branches and…and then what?

 

He wasn’t authorized to be active.

 

He didn’t have a mission.

 

He didn’t have a handler.

 

The Winter Protocol simply allowed the Asset a certain level of freedom to erase his post-mission command to return to HYDRA. He didn’t have any directives beyond that.

 

Blending in with the homeless, the Asset sat unmoving in his makeshift shelter in the alley, keeping line of sight to the alley’s entrance and looking up at the roofline above for any suspicious movement. The Asset was trained to be vigilant; he didn’t get tired, he didn’t need much in food or shelter or clothes. As he walked past the people of this decade, he found them weak and fat and full of pride and vanity – they were prey and the Asset was the perfect predator. Perhaps that was his own pride and vanity – not _his_ , but something that remained from Barnes.

 

But now, after the run in with the HYDRA agents, the Asset felt…dissatisfied.

 

Over the last few weeks, as the Asset read through the SHIELD/HYDRA documents released to the public, he was unsurprised to have some of his memories return. They leeched in, like strange dreams belonging to another man, when the Asset was out of cryofreeze for too long. The memories of the past never bothered the Asset; he was able to push them to the far reaches of his mind, the mission took precedence. It wasn’t uncommon that most of the memories were of the Asset’s past missions, the dates and names of victims meaningless to him now.

 

_January 11, 1955 – United Nations Diplomatic Negotiation Team_

_All targets eliminated without incident_

_May 14, 1955 – NATO General James Keller_

_Target eliminated with prejudice_

_January 1, 1956 – British Ambassador Dalton Graines_

_Target eliminated_

_Acceptable collateral damage_

_April 1, 1956 – French Defense Minister Jacques Dupuy_

_Target eliminated with prejudice_

_May 12, 1956 – Algerian Peace Conference Envoy_

_All targets eliminated_

_February 17, 1957 – US Colonel Jefferson Hart_

_Target eliminated with prejudice_

_March 12, 1973 – US Senator Harry Baxtor_

_Target eliminated with prejudice_

 

The Asset clenched his teeth; there would be more memories, more dates and names and deaths. It was after he assassinated Baxtor that the Asset activated Winter Protocol for the first time. He hadn’t returned to HYDRA, hopped on a train in Dallas and got on a bus from Chicago to New York. It wasn’t a city that he knew, but he identified a need that he had to be there. He was off the grid for two weeks before HYDRA agents, dressed as NYPD officers, found him crashing in a flophouse on the lower east side.

 

Despite their best attempts at mental conditioning, they weren’t able to find the protocol that allowed the Asset to cut his leash. The scientists called it an aberration and that was the last time the Asset had missions on US soil.

 

And now, there were also memories of a past belonging to the man named Barnes. He recalled faces – three young girls, dark haired with blue eyes, like Barnes. The Museum listed that Barnes was the eldest of four – perhaps they were the faces of Barnes’s sisters. The Asset remembered Barnes dancing and kissing women. He remembered Barnes shivering from the cold and sitting close with men younger than him, huddling close to keep warm in a dirt trench with fire lighting the sky above them.

 

And once or twice, while the Asset was waiting patiently for his target to move into his line of sight, sometimes being still for hours, there would be a memory of a young man, short and thin, with dark blond hair and blue eyes, looking up at Barnes with an amused twist in his smile.

 

The sound of an engine backfiring pulled the Asset out of his thoughts and he felt his body shift into readiness, eyes sharp as he looked around for potential threats. He shouldn’t be sheltered, he needed to get to New York and to find the tunnel out of the US.  

 

_The Asset needed a mission._

 

***

 

As he expected, HYDRA agents caught up with the Asset as he was leaving Wilmington. He quickly dispatched the four agents, shoved them into the stolen car, and then set it on fire. As the Asset stood nearby, hands tucked into his pockets, watching the bodies burning inside of the fiery vehicle, he realized that he did have a mission.

 

Authorization: Winter Protocol

Asset: Evade recovery

Asset: Evade capture

Targets Identified: HYDRA agents

Targets Eliminated: 4

Collateral Damage: 0

Asset: Active

Asset: Set new mission parameters

Mission: Destroy HYDRA

 

HYDRA would _never_ stop coming after him. For as long as HYDRA existed, the Asset was too valuable to be allowed his freedom. He was too valuable to kill. They would punish him, freeze him, reprogram him, control him, and provide him with new missions. The Asset had a taste of freedom now; he was never going back. He was never going to allow anyone to control him again.

 

In order to safeguard his freedom, he would have to kill everyone in the organization. He would have to bring HYDRA down, to the very last HYDRA leader, agent, operator, sympathizer, sleeper cell, and scientist – every single one of them needed to die.

 

There could be no mercy, no exceptions. Cut off one head, two would grow in its place. The Asset would need to cut off all their heads and burn their entire body to ash.

 

He made his way into New York and walked through the Freedom Tunnel, stepping behind cement pillars when Amtrak trains rushed past him. He stared at the art covering the walls—

 

The Asset had a brief flash of memory of Rogers sitting on the window sill, legs dangling over the metal staircase, long bangs falling into his eyes. He wore a too-large white undershirt and pants with the bottoms rolled up, narrow, bony shoulders under the threadbare fabric. On his lap was a handmade clap book, tied together with rough butcher string, loose sheets of cheap commercial paper folded inside. Barnes’s memories of Rogers never felt like he was looking at a weakling. The feelings were unfamiliar to the Asset – something like admiration. He remembered that Barnes always liked looking at Rogers’s hands. His hands looked strong, determined, and confident, as he brushed his pencil across the page.

 

The Asset shook his head clear of Barnes’s memory and looked for the place markers hidden in the art to show him the location of the tunnel entrance. A large orange chicken strutted in front of the Asset and clucked lowly at him. The Asset gave it a wide berth, acknowledging its territory, and found the exit door marked with the correct symbol.

 

He climbed up the metal staircase and found himself on a different level of the tunnel. The Asset continued walking, coming to a modern and well-maintained metal door. He reached for the handle, but the door was locked. The Asset knew he could rip the door off the hinges, but he would risk alienating the tunnel gatekeeper. Instead, he knocked on the metal door three times and waited patiently. A camera lens moved, tracking his movement, and he heard the grind of the locking mechanism opening.

 

The Asset pulled open the door cautiously, looking inside before opening the door further. He could hear loud music, something that thumped in his chest, and he stepped into the narrow brick hallway, closing the door behind him. The locking mechanism engaged and the Asset knew he would have to break the metal door down.

 

He stepped lightly down the hall, thick plastic drapes covered the opening. The Asset moved the panels aside and looked into the wide open cement room. It was the length of the entire underground tunnel, but there were at least a hundred rows of sturdy work tables stretched throughout the room. The Asset counted a dozen highly technical computer systems, along with drafting tables, mixed in with living space, chemical laboratory, photo lab, and other things that the Asset couldn’t place.

 

“Hold up, newbie,” a man called, walking towards the Asset. “State your business, man.”

 

The Asset looked over the man – older, fifties, a thick graying beard, sharp blue eyes, and his hair thinning out at the hairline – he didn’t look like a threat.

 

“Are you the gatekeeper?”

 

“Call me Kenny,” the man said, eyeing the Asset up and down. “Who you be, friend?”

 

“I need identification papers, weapons, and transport to Europe.”

 

“Uh-huh,” Kenny said, nodding slowly, chewing on his bottom lip. “You got funding for this project, baby?”

 

The Asset nodded. “I can transfer funds with digital gold currency.”

 

Kenny’s broke out into a wide smile, clapping his hands together. “Hot damn, friend, come right this way.”

 

He led the Asset to a computer terminal and the Asset sat down, looking at the screen. It was already logged into an untraceable network. The Asset knew that with the HYDRA leadership gone, no one would have thought to lock down their electronic asset accounts yet; the organization was too broken, too many high ranking HYDRA officers dead. There were higher priorities than trying to close out a handful of accounts that only three or four people in the leadership knew existed. The Asset knew that he had a finite amount of time to access the funds in order to get the supplies that he needed.

 

“I need account information for transfer,” he said, looking at the gatekeeper.

 

Kenny looked over the Asset’s shoulder at the amount on the screen. He gave a low whistle. “Haven’t seen that many zeroes before. All right, kiddo, give me the line code and type in $750,000 for the dollar amount. Hit the transfer button and we’ll be in business.”

 

The Asset nodded, concluding the transfer.

 

“What kind of ident papers you need?”

 

“Passport, not US. Supplementary identification from the country of origin.”

 

Kenny typed furiously on his keyboard, the screen blanking out when he finished. He turned and smiled at the Asset.

 

“I tell you what, you pick the country of origin and I’ll put together a whole ID package for you, anything you need – passport, driver’s license, high school certificate, credit cards, the whole shebang. A whole new life, traceable, legitimate, and real.”

 

The Asset nodded. “Transport.”

 

“You wanna fly first class?”

 

He stared at Kenny for a long moment and then pulled the dirty black glove off his left hand, holding it up and wiggling his fingers slowly.

 

“Holy shit,” Kenny said, staring at his metal hand. “Fuck me, you’re one of HYDRA’s, ain’t you? Winter Soldier. Oh man, I’ve heard _stories_ about you for years. Best damn assassin to ever come out of the Red Room—hell, you’re the _only_ male to survive Red Room training—“  

 

“I don’t belong to them anymore.”

 

Kenny nodded, holding up his hands. “No, no, you got it, man. I am a man of honor and silence; have to be in this business if you want to keep your head. You don’t belong to them, you never stepped into my shop, that’s how we play this. I’m just a tunnel to get you where you need to go.”

 

The Asset nodded.

 

“Okay, then, with a full metal arm, you’re not going to be able to get through security at any of the usual modes of transportation,” Kenny said, stroking his beard with his hand. “I’m thinking either cargo ship or tanker.”

 

“Tanker,” the Asset said, decisively. “Western Europe route.”

 

Kenny turned to his computer and started pulling up shipping route maps. “Yeah, you can hop on a tanker at Port of Albany and go all the way over to Port of Primorsk, Russia. Will that work?”

 

The Asset noted Kenny’s competence. Getting off at Primorsk would put him back on the HYDRA playing field. He could make his way through Europe, attack HYDRA bases from the rear. No one would expect him to be in Europe until it was too late.

 

“Roxxon Energy chartered a commercial oil tanker, it’s coming out of Albany in the next 48 hours,” Kenny said, tapping his finger on the screen. “Manifest shows that they’re going across the Atlantic. I can get you on board; give you clearance for being on there. Not as a VIP, that would alert too many people you probably don’t want poking their noses in your business. That means you’re going in as a last minute shipmate – put you in mechanical. Is that going to be a problem?”

 

“No.”

 

“Okay,” the gatekeeper said, calling up more digital documentation and typing quickly. “Need to get your ID done before I can add you to the work crew. It’s not a private charter, so they won’t care if a new face shows up.”

 

The Asset had a diversity of skill sets, including technical, mechanical or engineering, where he could blend in with a working international tanker crew. The scientists called it conditioned-reflex memory. He was able to draw on the accumulated skills and expertise he gained over time; they would wipe his short-term memory between missions. It made him an effective soldier and efficient killer.

 

“Country of origin – not US, you said,” Kenny looked through the European immigration database, eyeglasses sitting on the edge of his nose. “Russian? French?” He looked up at the Asset. “Nah, no one would ever believe you were French. I’m thinking…better to hide your pretty face in one of the Eastern European countries – how do you feel about Romania?”

 

“Fine,” the Asset said, decisively. “Use a common name.”

 

“How about the surname Stanislav? Good, strong Slavic name – it means _to become glory_. Common enough that it won’t stand out.”

 

The Asset nodded. “Acceptable.”

 

“Any preference for a first name?”

 

“No.”

 

Kenny grinned, shaking his head. “How about we just keep it simple, then. Adam. _The first man to become glory_. Has a nice ring to it, yeah?”

 

“Adam Stanislav,” the Asset repeated, setting the new name into his memory. “It’s adequate.”

 

“Give me two hours and I’ll have all of your documents finished, including a full history and everything.” He looked at the Asset again, frowning slightly. “Look, kiddo, you look pretty beat. I got guest quarters in the tunnel – shower, some clean things to wear, maybe you’ll want to shave before we take your ID pictures, huh?”

 

The Asset agreed; he was no longer hiding in alleys, he would need to look passable on the street without calling attention to himself.

 

“Go through those doors over there,” Kenny said, waving his hand to the living spaces area. “There’s food in the kitchen if you want to eat. Watch porn. Take a nap. Help yourself. You can take some extras with you in a bag, help you blend in even more.”

 

The Asset cleaned up quickly, efficiently. He shaved his face carefully and brushed back his long hair. He would need to cut it; the length now would make him vulnerable to an opponent who would use it against the Asset. He walked into the clothing area and selected unremarkable but durable pieces – dark pants, dark shirt, thick socks and boots, Army green canvas jacket. He picked out a blue baseball cap, shoving it into the pocket. He found another pair of black gloves and put them into his other pocket. There was a green canvas bag and he shifted through the remaining clothes, adding a few more work pants, socks, shirts, a dark gray sweater into the duffel. It was late summer now, heading into an early autumn. The Asset could find winter gear in Primorsk.

 

When he walked into the kitchen space, he saw two thick sandwiches on a plate on the counter, a bottle of beer next to it.

 

“Eat up, that’s for you,” Kenny called to him, sitting at one of the drafting tables.

 

The Asset carefully took the sandwich apart, checking for contaminants. He concluded that the gatekeeper didn’t have any clear motivation to want to hurt him, so he took a bite of the sandwich and chewed slowly, evenly. He watched the gatekeeper at work, moving across the room, the whir of various machines all around them.

 

“Weapons.”

 

“Preferences?”

 

“Knives and pistols.”

 

Kenny chuckled, walking towards the other end of the room. “Armory’s this way. I got everything you could want in here – clean, no rifling, no registration history, we’re talking virgin from the factory.”

 

The Asset grinned slowly, his eyes taking in wall after wall of neatly arranged displays of close-quarters-combat knives to a mini tank.

 

He selected the Strider Model VB, measuring the perfect balance of blade and handle. It was over 10 inches in length, the blade was solidly made. It wasn’t a Gerber, but the Asset needed an effective blade, not one that he would take out into the field. Once he got to his destination, he’d be able to resupply at one of the HYDRA locations. He picked up the sheath, pushing the blade into it carefully.

 

Next, he picked out the Steyr SAI-M40 handgun, checking the weight and grip in his right hand. He transferred it to his left hand, raised it and sighted it. He pulled the trigger and approved of the correct tension. He released the magazine – 12 rounds – and pushed it back into the grip.

 

“Takes .40 Smith and Wesson,” Kenny said, tossing the Asset a box of ammunition. “Let’s get your glamour shot.”

 

The Asset brushed back his hair and stood against the neutral colored wall as Kenny took a few quick pictures of his face. The Asset didn’t like that his face existed on documents, even falsified ones, but he knew that he needed them in order to move freely. Once he was out of the US and in Europe, the Asset would have access to everything else and he could hide the Adam Stanislav identity, keep him out of danger in case he needed Adam Stanislav to resurface.

 

Maybe when he completed his mission.

 

“Here are all of your documents,” Kenny said, handing the Asset his new passport and ID card. “The rest of the stuff – old school records, credit history, bureaucratic bullshit – that’s all digital information, so if anyone’s checking on Adam Stanislav, there’s enough information on him to keep you under the radar. Just don’t get yourself caught by the Feds or INTERPOL and you’ll be all right.”

 

The Asset took the documents, checked them, and tucked them into his pockets.

 

“So you ever going to tell me your name, kiddo?”

 

The Asset smirked. “Adam Stanislav.”

 

Kenny laughed, heartily, nodding his head. “Don’t be a stranger. I appreciate a man who pays in gold. That’s straight up honorable, especially in the kind of business I run.”

 

The Asset didn’t have anything to say. He merely nodded at Kenny, picking up the battered duffel bag holding a few more changes of clothes.

 

“Hey, Adam,” Kenny said, holding out his hand. “Good luck on your journey.”

 

The Asset looked at his hand and reached out slowly to shake it. “Thank you.”

 

***

 

Less than 48 hours later, the Asset was on board the oil tanker, _Norco II_ , heading down the Hudson River. He finished his shift in mechanical engineering, working with the three other crewmen, keeping to himself for the most part. No one bothered him, maybe too freaked out or bothered by his metal arm. The chief was an older man, who smoked cigars and listened to old time records. The Asset overhead one of the songs and he carried the memory of the familiar tune to his bunk, crashing on the cheap mattress, letting his mind shuffle through some of Barnes’s memories.

 

TBC…


	4. James Buchanan Barnes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Asset reclaims his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quotes: From "Captain America: The First Avenger"

_“This isn't a back alley, Steve. It's war!”_

 

  * Bucky Barnes



 

**FOUR MONTHS LATER**

 

Authorization: Winter Protocol

Asset: Evade capture

Mission: Destroy HYDRA

 

From Primorsk, the Asset made his way to St. Petersburg. After he assassinated twelve HYDRA agents and found a weapons cache in the facility to rearm, the Asset spent 24-hours in the city, armed to the teeth, and dressed in a thick coat, hat pulled down low on his head. He blended in with the locals and the tourists who braved an early Russian winter. He walked along the _Nevsky Prospekt_ , which the Asset remembered as _Proletkult Street_ or _Ulitsa Proletkul’ta_ , before it was changed to _Avenue of the 25 th of October_. His ears flooded with the familiar rhythms of his mother language. Of course, Russian wasn’t his mother language. For Barnes, it was English; but for the Asset, his mother language was the French that he learned from Zola the first few years of his regeneration. The Asset remembered that Barnes hated Zola, but the Asset felt nothing for the scientist. He remembered pain.

 

Maintenant, le sergent Barnes, cela va faire mal un peu seulement. _[Now, Sergeant Barnes, this will hurt only a little.]_

 

Je vais vous tuer, Zola! _[I will kill you, Zola!]_

 

But it was General Karpov who indoctrinated the Asset with obedience and loyalty and a love for all things Russia.

 

Маленький мальчик нашёл пулемёт, Больше в деревне никто не живёт. _[A little boy found a machine gun, now the village population is none.]_

 

The Asset quirked the corner of his mouth, that was Vasily’s favorite joke; _a moral lesson_ , he often told the Asset. A lesson; a warning.

 

Зима. _[Winter.]_

_Zima, that was what Vasily called him in private._

 

Зимнийдолжныусвоить этот урокв своем сердце. _[_ _Winter must learn this lesson in his heart.]_

 

He left St. Petersburg earlier than he planned. Being on the move was preferably, lest he start to fall back into his memories of the past. The Asset traveled quickly through Europe, easily infiltrating HYDRA offices and facilities, leaving nothing in his wake except death and silence. He had taken down eight HYDRA facilities, rearming himself each time and downloading the locations of other HYDRA facilities and personnel. He still had not found the identity of the new head of HYDRA but the Asset wasn’t concerned. He would make himself known to the Asset, if anything to try and persuade the Asset to return to the fold. The Asset would find and destroy all of them. That was his mission now.

 

Outside of Bern, in a small town called Stettlen, the Asset found the highly protected HYRDRA facility. From the secret documents that the Asset downloaded while at other locations, he learned that the Bern facility was a research center developing powerful new weaponry based on a secret “unknown” energy cube.

 

Was bauen sie dort? _[What are they building there?]_

 

Waffen! Neue Waffen, nichts das wir je gesehen haben. _[_ _Weapons! New weapons, nothing that we’ve ever seen.]_

 

The Asset recalled the HYDRA weapons during the old war; a blue laser light so powerful that it could disintegrate anything in its way.

 

Es gibt ein blaues Licht ab? _[_ _It emits a blue light?]_

 

Ja, aber es ist instabil. Wir können die Energiewerte nicht lange genug stabilisieren um- _[_ _Yes, but it’s unstable. We can’t get the energy readings to remain stable enough to—]_

 

The Asset tightened his grip on the scientist’s throat, snapping his neck quickly.

 

He recalled something that Zola was working on, something called a Tesseract. It was the science of it that got his attention for the Bern facility, over the high-value HYDRA bases in Eastern Europe and Northern Africa. He spent a week doing recon of the area – the facility was underground, topside surrounded by innocuous looking farmland and a small collective of houses and barns. The Asset watched as delivery trucks pulled into the barn structure on _Utzlenbergstrasse_ – that was the way into the lower levels.

 

After he quietly eliminated all HYDRA assets topside, he made his way into the lower levels, dropping down to the floor silently. He went from room to room, patiently and efficiently killing the people he encountered before they could raise alarm. There were four underground floors and by the time the Asset reached the lowest level, he had killed 58 targets and set 6 explosives. He would have no less than 7 minutes to exit the facility before it blew and created a small crater in the ground.

 

The Asset picked up one of the weapons – what looked like a small caliber handgun – and tucked it inside his jacket. He had killed all the scientists in the labs and was downloading their entire cache of data. He was setting three more explosives around the computer servers when he heard the alarms.

 

Moving quickly, he pulled the data drive from the computer and put it in his zippered pocket. He picked up his knives and headed out of the laboratories. The Asset did not set off the alarm, which meant that someone had entered the facility behind him. The Asset hadn’t left anyone alive to raise the alarm. He narrowed his eyes and moved silently down the hallway, turning to hide his body in an alcove when he heard loud footsteps turn the corner.

 

He saw the round shield rush past him; the Asset closed his eyes and sighed.

 

Stupide petit baise! _[Stupid little fuck!]_

 

The Asset checked his watch. Less than 3 minutes.

 

“Rogers,” he called, stepping out from the alcove to reveal his presence, facing Captain America head on. The Asset looked him over. He wasn’t wearing his usual colorful uniform, but instead black utility pants, black boots, and a dark blue zip front jacket. The round shield was still painted with the Captain’s patriotic colors.

 

“Bucky,” Rogers said, turning around. He held up the shield, cautious. “Bucky, have you been the one—“

 

“You look better than the last time I saw you,” the Asset said, lips curling into a smile. “If you want to live, you ought to tell your team to get out of the facility. It’s wired to explode in less than 2 minutes.”

 

The Asset turned, running down the hallway for the exit stairs. He heard Rogers give chase right behind him, calling his name – no, not **his** name – but ignored him as the Asset took the stairs two and three at a time. He cleared the building and ran across the field to the trees. He could hear the dull thump of the quinjet’s engines above him.

 

“Bucky! Wait!” Rogers shouted at him, following him into the woods. “Negative, Natasha, don’t pursue him! I’m going to him alone. No, that’s an order, Romanov!”

 

The Asset did not wait; he could not afford to have his mission compromised before he completed his work.

 

“Bucky! Please, just stop for a minute! Just for a gosh damn minute!”

 

The first set of explosions shook the ground; the Asset could feel the tremors under his feet as he ran. The next set shook the earth, spooking the birds out of the trees above them. He turned to see Rogers still behind him, a plume of gray smoke coming from the field.

 

“Soldier! Stop!”

 

The Asset frowned, slowing the pace of his run for just a moment. But that moment was all Rogers needed to catch up to him, body thrown against his back, taking them both down to the ground. The Asset growled, every instinct him to fight, to win, and he punched Rogers in the gut with his metal fist, then pushed him off so he could get back to his feet. He pulled out his Tanto blade, covered in the blood of HYDRA, and wielded it in front of him as he glared at Rogers.

 

“I’m sorry, Buck,” Rogers said, recovering and holding up his hands. “I just wanted to talk.”

 

“Talk! Before your team gets here.”

 

“I know you’ve been the one taking down HYDRA, but you don’t have to do it alone.”

 

The Asset stared at him. “Why do you care? This is **my** mission.”

 

Rogers looked at him. “Are you—are you starting to remember?”

 

“I remember enough,” he said, noncommittally.  

 

“Please come home, Bucky. We can help you,” Rogers said, softly. “I’ve missed you so much. **So much**.”

 

He sneered. “I don’t have a home to go to.”

 

“I want to help you. If it’s going after the other HYDRA bases, then please, I want to go with you. It’s not just about you—“

 

The Asset growled and grabbed Rogers by the front of his jacket, pushing him against the tree.

 

 _“Fuck you,”_ he spat, furiously. “You, _Captain America_ , you woke up a goddamn hero, but every time I woke up, it was to kill and destroy. I shaped the fucking century while you were asleep!”

 

“Buck—“

 

“It has nothing to do with **you**! Do you understand? I have a mission! I’m not anyone’s slave now and I don’t owe anyone shit as far as I’m concerned! Do you understand!”

 

He stared into Rogers’s blue eyes, waiting for him to acknowledge the Asset’s mission.

 

“I’m sorry for every—“

 

“Do you understand!” He shouted, slamming Rogers into the tree.

 

“Yes!”

 

The Asset took a deep breath and slowly released Rogers. “Don’t follow me.”

 

“No, Bucky, please don’t go,” Rogers said, grabbing his arm. “End of the line, remember?”  

 

The metal hand curled around Rogers’s neck before the Asset even realized he had done it. He squeezed tightly, lips pressed into a grimace.  

 

“This ain’t about a stupid promise that we made when we were boys!”

 

“Bucky, you remembered—“

 

"I'm not the man from the museum," he said in a low growl. "That man is dead and gone, Rogers." 

 

"But  **you're**  alive. I...I want to be **your** friend." 

 

The Asset glared at him. He could easily twist his hand and break Rogers's neck, fulfill his last mission protocol. He met the other man's blue eyes and felt a tickle of memory flare behind his eyes; back to Barnes's past, to when Rogers was small but the biggest punk in all of Brooklyn. That Rogers used to look up at Barnes with that same look in his blue eyes and the Asset gasped, tightening his hold on Rogers’s neck. 

 

"I'm not Bucky. I'll never be him again," the Asset told him, staring into his blue eyes.

 

He pressed his mouth against Rogers's lips, hard and rough. He pulled back to see Rogers’s face flush a dull red, his mouth opened in surprise.

 

“Buck,” he whispered, staring at him.

 

Заботьтесь о себе, Стив. _[Take care of yourself, Steve.]_

 

Without another word, the Asset released Rogers and ran through the woods. He knew that Rogers wouldn’t follow him. He could hear the quinjet hovering nearby and the Asset kept to the shadows of the foliage, waiting for the aircraft to pick up Rogers and depart. The Asset took a deep breath and licked his lips, sinking against the hard bark of the tree.  

 

 _Bucky._ Rogers would never stop calling him Bucky; he would always keep looking for his missing friend in the Asset.

 

The Asset made a face and let out a disgruntled sound.

 

Merde. _[Fuck.]_

 

No one had ever given the Asset a name; he didn’t believe he needed one. He would never be the James Buchanan Barnes of the past, but it was his name. 

 

The man in the museum, he had been a hero. He had died protecting his friend, died defending his country. **Bucky** was the hero. Zola, Karpov, Department X, the Red Room, and HYDRA – they had all taken the best qualities in Bucky and remade him into the Asset, a weapon. But he wasn’t a thing, he was a man. And now, he was a man with a name.

 

He would never be _Bucky_ again; but he could be James Barnes. For all that they stole from him, they couldn’t take away his name. **His** name.


End file.
